The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that countries must annually invest nearly three times this amount to close a growing gap between existing infrastructure and rapidly escalating demand.
Due to their scale, cost, and economic impact, publicly funded infrastructure projects attract a high level of attention and scrutiny, with much of the debate often colored by political considerations. Meanwhile, cost overruns and delays have become so commonplace in publicly funded projects that they are considered a given, with the public bearing the increased burden of mismanagement.
Consider: The opening of Berlin’s international airport originally scheduled for October 2011 has been delayed four times at a cost of $52.5 million every month. Sweden’s Hallandsas Tunnel is not expected to be completed until 2015 – nearly two decades behind schedule. In India, about half of the country’s 566 current major infrastructure projects have been set back, according to a recent report to Parliament.
